Tag Archives: family vacations

The Car Top Carrier

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There were eight people (6 kids, 2 adults) in my family growing up, but most vans only image had seat belts for 7 so space was always an issue.  A car top carrier seemed like the perfect solution for baggage and it worked ok for us for a little while.  The straps would make this buzzing noise as they vibrated in the wind when we drove fast.

I remember that we’d fill it as full as we could and then still have things packed in the back of the van.  We went through a few car-top carriers, but I can’t remember why.  The experience I’ll never forget is our last trip with a car-top carrier. 

We were traveling home from Canada and were in Ontario with about 3 hours left till we got home.  As were cruising along down the highway at a good speed, car-top carrier flew off of the car with a thud and landed in the middle of the highway.  I can remember feeling panicked and wondering what we would do and how we could possibly fit all of our things in the van.  I remember that by the time we had all of our things packed into the already full van, we could no longer see the floor of the van and we had to rest our legs on top of luggage.

Posted in Kathleen's Personal History

A Childhood Moment

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I started writing my personal history on this blog, I’m far from finished, but I can’t seem to find the time to sit and write for an hour so perhaps I’ll write a few memories here  and there and later compose them into my history.

My family didn’t take a lot of family vacations that weren’t to visit extended family.  imageMost of the time we traveled it was to see either my grandma in Pittsburg, PA or my grandparents in Knoxville, TN.  Either trip meant many hours in the car. 

We seldom stopped for food because I know my mom was always trying to conserve money.  She’d pack a cooler full of sandwiches and a variety of snacks.  One time she packed baby bottles filled with juice for all of the kids.  I think the idea was to prevent spills ( this was my mom’s frugal alternative to juice boxes).  My sibs and I loved the bottles, mostly for the strange looks we got from other cars passing by.  We would wait until another car was about to pass and then lift the bottles in the air to take a long drink..  My mom became very embarrassed and made a sign for the window that said “these are not my children.”  The time in the car passed more quickly on the long drive and so for several drives after that we all insisted that she pack us baby bottles of juice.  I think she initially refused, not wanting to repeat the embarrassment, but eventually she caved and for awhile we had baby bottles for every extended trip.  We were also required to make the “these are not my children” sign for the window.  I think once we wrote “these ARE my children.”

Posted in Kathleen's Personal History